Man Finds Likely Meteor Fragment

Probably came from asteroid belt between Mars, Jupiter
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 17, 2010 11:25 AM CDT

Scientists say an apparent fragment from a meteor that lit up skies over the US Midwest this week has been recovered in southwestern Wisconsin. The fragment weighs 0.3 pounds and is about the size of an unshelled peanut. The meteor had streaked across the sky about 10pm Wednesday and was visible from southern Wisconsin and northern Iowa to central Missouri.

University of Wisconsin geology professor John Valley says the fragment has a so-called fusion crust. The paper-thin blackened coating results when a meteor super-heats as it speeds through the atmosphere. Valley says the man who found the fragment lent it to university scientists for analysis, and that the meteor appears to have come from the vast asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. (More meteor stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X